I brought my gift of a soft, undyed, near-white silk lace shawl to the dinner the night before the wedding and was glad to see quite a few other people bringing gifts then, too.

Holly, the bride, was so thrilled with it that at the wedding reception the next day she sat down right there and wrote out a heartfelt thank you and commissioned someone to find me and get it to me, since of course everybody constantly wanted her attention and her new husband’s and she was trying to do right by everyone at once. But such a personal gift–she wanted as personal a thank you as she could make it, and right away.

She’s a good one. Our nephew is one very lucky man. She said to me later in the evening as we reconnected in the crowd, “I don’t know you yet but I love you, and thank you.”